Travel insurance purchases soar by 277% amidst growing fears of Coronavirus spread

• Comparing to the same day last year (27.02), travel insurance purchases have increased by 159%*
• Figures for those purchasing travel insurance have increased 277%**  in the last 7 days
• Searches for travel insurance are up 92%*** over the last 7 days
• Holidaymakers are advised to sort travel insurance as soon as they’ve booked a holiday

Sally Jaques from GoCompare Travel Insurance, said: “With the coronavirus spread showing no sign of easing ahead of the Easter break and with many holidaymakers set to travel abroad, we are seeing a shift away from customers buying ‘same day or within a week of travel’ to ‘1 month to travel’. This would suggest that customers are buying earlier for their Easter holidays, and other later dates. We are also seeing purchases increasing significantly, and comparing this to the same day last year, they’ve increased by 159%*.

“The key message is to make sure you have travel insurance in place as soon as you’ve booked. If you’ve booked and haven’t got insurance, get it sorted as soon as possible.

“If you have insurance in place and the FCO advises against travel to your destination, you should be covered, whereas if they have listed your destination area as no travel before you buy your policy, an insurer won't pay out.

“Travelers already in travel restricted zones and trying to leave will continue to be covered by travel insurance, whereas anyone actively trying to travel to these areas or any other area which has a travel restriction imposed by the FCO would now risk invalidating their travel policy.

“If you’ve booked a trip and now want to cancel it, then you may find your insurer won’t refund you if there’s no warning on travel to your destination. If you’ve booked flights and accommodation separately, it’s worth contacting the airline you’re flying with to seek their advice on disruption to future flights. We’d also urge people to get in touch with their insurer to check cover and restrictions, or for more specific advice relating to their policy.

“As of the 28^th February 2020, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has advised against all travel to Hubei Province, and against all but essential travel to the rest of mainland China, the cities of Daegu and Cheongdo in South Korea and ten small towns in the Lombardy region and one in the Veneto region of Italy.

“More information on the FCO travel restrictions and general travel advice can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus.”

Key points to remember for travelers:

1. Make sure you have travel insurance in place as soon as you’ve booked.
2. If you have insurance in place and the FCO advises against travel to your destination, you should be covered
3. Anyone actively trying to travel to an area which has a travel restriction imposed by the FCO would now risk invalidating their travel policy.
4. If your destination has travel restrictions imposed before you buy your policy, an insurer won't pay out.
5. Get in touch with your insurer to check cover and restrictions, or for more specific advice relating to your policy.
6. Keep a close eye on FCO travel restrictions

-ENDS-

For further information please contact:

Anders Nilsson or Louisa Marsden at GoCompare on 01633 654 054 / 01633 655 132

Gordon, Jason or Liz at MAW Communications on 01603 505 845

Notes to editors

* 159% increase based on YoY sales data provided by theidol.com. Correct as of 27.02.20.

**277% increase based on 7-day sales data provided by theidol.com. Correct as of 27.02.20.

***92% uplift based on Google Trends data for the search term ‘travel insurance’ over the past 7 days, from 21^st February to 28^th February 2020.

GoCompare

GoCompare is a comparison website that enables people to compare the costs and features of a wide variety of insurance policies, financial products and energy tariffs.

GoCompare does not charge people to use its services, and it does not accept advertising or sponsored listings, so all product comparisons are unbiased. GoCompare makes its money through fees paid by the providers of products that appear on its various comparison services when a customer buys through the site.

When it launched in 2006, it was the first comparison site to focus on displaying policy details rather than just listing prices, with the aim of helping people to make better-informed decisions when buying their insurance. GoCompare has remained dedicated to helping people choose the most appropriate products rather than just the cheapest, and has teamed up with Defaqto, the independent financial researcher, to integrate additional policy information into a number of its insurance comparison services. This allows people to compare up to an extra 30 features of cover.

GoCompare is the only comparison website to be invited to join the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

For more information visit www.gocompare.com